Boom Goes the Dynamite

By: Joe Kiefer

There are some of you who have no idea what the title of this post is in reference to. If you are part of that group, then you will want to go to YouTube, search on "Boom Goes the Dynamite" and watch an almost painful clip of a young sportscaster sputtering his way through the sports segment of the news.

For over 4 million of you "Boom Goes the Dynamite" has instant name recognition. Yes, over 4,000,000 of you have watched this clip on YouTube! How would you like that video with your logo attached to it or a visible URL? I think we are beyond denying social media sites are here to stay. We can still argue which will be around next year and which have application to your company.

The viral nature of many social media sites makes them hard to put numbers to and viral media is seemingly like catching lightning in a bottle. There doesn't seem to be rules to it. Viral marketing can come from a large corporation or the mom and pop store down the street. It can come from a million dollar budget or a budget of zero. It can come from an ad agency or a couple of kids in their basement.

I think that is the most interesting part, but also the most frustrating part for a marketer. There are no guarantees in viral marketing campaigns and there are obviously varying degrees of success. Not every attempt will get 4,000,000 hits and a blatant attempt at marketing will make sure your efforts are not fruitful.

Keep it short, keep it funny and test your concept with some 19 - 29 year old members of your staff. Your 45 year old Marketing Director's seal of approval may not be the most telling indicator of success. Good luck and if you want to pass this post on to colleagues that would be great!